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Governor LePage Announces USDA Program to Help Support Maine Blueberry Growers and Processors

July 6, 2017

For Immediate Release: Thursday, July 06, 2017
Contact: Adrienne Bennett, Press Secretary, 207-287-2531

AUGUSTA – Governor Paul R. LePage today confirmed the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a program that will support Maine blueberry growers through the Section 32 “Bonus Buy” program. The program is a non-taxpayer-funded program in which USDA purchases select non-price-supported commodities that face oversupply and/or price challenges and diverts them to domestic food programs.

Maine is the only state in the nation that grows wild blueberries commercially. However, high overall blueberry supply, global competition and extremely low prices are threatening the 150-year-old commercial specialty crop. In April, Governor LePage wrote a letter to Secretary of U.S. Department of Agriculture Sonny Perdue encouraging support for a Bonus Buy request submitted by the Maine Wild Blueberry Commission. The program will help eliminate a backlog of surplus berries currently in our processors’ freezers, reduce the potential for carryover inventory from the 2016 crop and help stabilize prices.

“This is welcome news for Maine’s agricultural economy. I would like to thank Secretary Perdue for supporting Maine’s iconic blueberry industry and Representative Bruce Poliquin for his efforts to secure a more stable future for our blueberry growers and processors,” said Governor LePage.

According to the USDA, a purchase announcement will be issued in the next few weeks for the department to buy up to 10 million pounds of Maine blueberries.

Nancy McBrady, Executive Director of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine, stated that the Commission “greatly appreciates the support of Governor LePage and the entire Maine Delegation for this Bonus Buy, which is good news for our growers. Larger crops also present us with the opportunity for more products to be developed with the Maine wild blueberry, and we are working hard to promote and market our healthy and delicious fruit both domestically and abroad.”

The Bonus Buy program will complement efforts already underway by the Maine’s Wild Blueberry Commission, which is solely funded by a tax borne by the limited pool of Maine’s wild blueberry growers and processors. Despite this funding constraint, the Commission is working to amplify promotional and marketing efforts to stimulate demand. It also recently launched a new national school food nutrition program aimed at boosting sales of frozen wild blueberries in our nation’s public schools, has increased outreach to food manufacturers and continues to fund foreign export activities. 

 

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